It is well-known to use an easy-open composite container for the packaging of raw, ready-to-bake, dough. In such a container, the container body, which is conventionally formed of a composite material (e.g. paperboard) is torn open by the consumer to expose the container contents so as to enable the removal of individual dough segments without substantial segment deformation. In some packaging of refrigerated dough products, containers including spirally wound composite materials having double seamed metal ends are used. It is sometimes desirable to include additional ingredients such as condiments, fruits, icing, spices, nuts, candies and the like, inside the container so that when the consumer opens the container to remove the refrigerated dough for baking, they will also have access to the additional ingredients.
In some packaging systems for refrigerated dough, it has been common practice to package icing in a pouch, place the icing in a paper sleeve and position the paper sleeve at one end of the refrigerated dough container and to have a loose metal separator between the dough and the icing pouch positioned in the paper sleeve. However, this type of packaging can produce problems in that the refrigerated dough in the container often excretes a fluid which can pass by the metal separator and penetrate the paper sleeve containing the icing pouch resulting in disintegration and crushing of the sleeve and ultimately in container failure. Also, the edge of the metal separator often cuts into the container liner allowing the fluid excreted from the dough to wet the body of the container and subsequently leading to reduced shelf life of the refrigerated dough package.
In other packaging systems, the topping or additional ingredients in such dough containers may be packed in a small open-ended plastic cup which, after being filled, is inserted, open end first, through an open end of the container body and pushed through the body until it seats against a closed end of the container. Such a container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,890 to Elam. The plastic cup according toe Elam is provided with an annular flange adjacent its closed end that is adapted to engage the interior side-wall of the container tube and form a seal that prevents the dough from extruding into the space between the cup and the side-wall. Alternatively, an open ended plastic cup may be inserted, closed end first, into the open end of the container and pushed through the body to the bottom of the container. The open end of the cup may be sealed and/or covered with a metal separator that isolates the additional ingredients in the plastic cup from the dough that is subsequently placed in the container.
The dough in a dough container may generate substantial pressure within the closed container during storage of the packaged dough product. The dough undergoes certain chemical reactions and generates gas pressure in a process known as “proofing.” To withstand such pressure, containers usually have metallic “ends” configured to engage an end portion of the paperboard body, either through a process of crimping or seaming. The crimped metal ends retain the dough despite significant force acting indirectly through the plastic cup, at one end, or directly on the metal end, at the other end.
Composite packages which are able to withstand internal pressures such as those generated by refrigerated dough products are generally able to withstand pressures in the range of 8 to 35 psi inside the container. A crimped meal end allows gases to vent until the dough product seals off the gas vent paths, and internal pressure then builds until an equilibrium pressure is reached. The metal ends and the can of conventional dough containers are designed to withstand this equilibrium pressure so that the package remains intact over the shelf life of the product.